Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1887-06-10
CONGRESS- CONDEMNED.
A BITTER REPORT BY THE
KNIGHTS LEGISLATTVE
COMMITTEE.
They Find very Little 70 Praise.

They Find very Little 20 Praise.
/ WASHINGTON, June 6.-The Ma
tional Legislative Committee of the
Knights of Labor have submitted
to the General Executive Board a
report of their labOrs during the
short session of the Forty-ninth
Congress. 1t is a long document,
critIcising sharply the failure of
Congress to pass number Of the
bills brought forward by the House
Committee on Labor.
The Letter. carriers Elght.hour
bill, says the report, was antagO.
nized by Mr.. Springer in favor of
a bill known as the Trade Dollar
q bill in the interest of spectators.
The Letter carriers bill would put
into the pockets of the letter-car
riers, in the shape of reduced hours
Of labor, so the POst.Ofiice Depart.
ment claimed, 100000. The pas.
sage of the Trade Dollar bill actu-
ally put into the pockets of specu-
lators $i,0O0,000, every dollar Of
which was filched from the pockets
of the poor by the law that demen.
TIED it. The steal was ably sec
onded by a systematic boycott on
the part of the banking fraternity
of the country, which now, by the
enactment of the present law, re-
ceived their reward by getting 100
cents on the dollar for that they
only paid eighty cents for.
The report gives an account of
the many attempts made by repre-
sentative Willis to get the Blair
Educational bill before the House,
and continues: "Mr. Willis intro
duced a resolution to relieve the
Committee on Education from fur
Their consideration of the bill by
privileged question to amend the
rules of the House, but he was
ruled out of order by the speaker
pro tenn, Mr.. Springer, and in an
underhand manner, in the opinion
of the committee. Mr.. Willis with
drew his motion with the remark
that he would renew it when the
regular Speaker was in the chair,
which he did on the l4th, only to
be antagonized by Mr.. Springer
with points of order.
IC is the opinion of the Knights
Committee that the Committee on
Education was packed against the
bill by the Speaker when he APP
pointed the Education Committee.
| THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE LAW.
The Interstate Commerce law
next receives the attention of the
Committee, and of it they say:
For the last ten years there has
been introduced in Congress by
Representative Reagan, of Texas,
bill entitled bill to regulate In
terstate commerce, and 1t became
evident to the railroad managers
of the country that from the grow
ing demands of the people the time
had arrived when such a measure
had to be passed. Realizing this
fact the railroad interest of the
country set about to circumvent
the Reagan bill which was SIM
pie. plain law that was easy of in
depreciation and was positive in its
provisions to protect the interest
of the people as against the grow
ing and grasping power of the giant
corporations of the country. They
had introduced into the Senate a
bill known as the CulliOn bill-a
bill that contained twenty-five sec
tons and every one OF them adj
hitting of double construction
so much so that no one in either
the Senate or the House was able
to interpret it-not even its god
father, Mr.. Cullion, who when ask
ed to explain its provisions on the
floor of the Senate, tacitly admit
ted his inability to do so.
The committee supported the one
with the least technicalities, viz,
the Reagan bill, and went so far as
to ask the President, on behalf OF
them they represented, to veto the
bill which had been passed. The
committee up to this date has not
seen any argument on the part of
their critics that have caused them
in any way to recede from the po-
sitiOn that they assumed on the
question, but on the contrary, the
evidence is daily coming to the
front of doubtful Interpretation
of the law and its consequent fail
ure to relieve the people Of the
evils they have so long complained
of, and expected by the law to be
relieved of.
LAND FORFEITURE FAILURES.
The report comments severely
upon the failure Of Congress to
pass some of the important land
forfeiture bills, and says some very
crooked work was done by land at
tOrneys and shysterlng lawyers in
connection with the forfeiture of
some of the grants. In speaking
of the Sioux City and st. Paul
Land Grant Railway bill the com.
mittee say
We are informed that a former
Government official by the name OF
Judge Lawrence, who is a resident
of Ohio, has been engaged by the
settlers on this grant at a fee of 81
per acre, making a sum total Of a
fee $4,000 IN case the committee
succeeded in getting the bill
through.
In conclusion the committee says:
AS early as the lst of February
we we're informed that in order to
secure action on several OF the
measures that the committee were
interested in, and which haye been
Systematically boycOtted, by the
Committee on Rules of the House,
we must secure the consent of that
committee: The special custodians
of this sacred burial place were {:
| Tobu q Carlisle fha SDpakpr of